May 23rd - St. Guibert of Gembloux

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May 23rd - St. Guibert of Gembloux

d. 962
GEMBLOUX in Brabant, which is now a centre for agriculture and the
manufacture of cutlery, covers the site once occupied by a celebrated
Benedictine monastery. It was founded by St. Guibert, or Wibert, who,
about the year 936, gave his estate of Gembloux for that purpose. He
came of one of the most illustrious families of Lotharingia and had
served with distinction in warlike campaigns, when he was moved to
abandon the world and to make trial of the solitary life on one of his
estates. It was whilst he was living as a hermit that he conceived the
idea of establishing a religious house where men, drawn from worldly
affairs, would honour God unceasingly by singing His praises. St.
Guibert's grandmother Gisla helped to endow the new foundation, over
which he placed a holy man called Herluin to be the first abbot. He
himself, as soon as the new monastery was well launched, retired to
the abbey of Gorze, where he received the habit. This step he took
from humility, to avoid the respect with which he was regarded at
Gembloux and the complacency he might feel in his own foundation. At
Gorze he hoped to live in obscurity as a simple monk, He soon
discovered, however, that he could not thus easily sever his
connection with Gembloux. The land he had given to the new abbey
appears to have been an imperial fief, and busybodies represented to
the Emperor Otto I that the saint was not entitled thus to dispose of
it. The monarch summoned him to plead his cause. Guibert defended his
action and his rights so successfully that Otto confirmed the
establishment of the abbey by charter and subsequently granted to it
great privileges.

Nevertheless, in spite of the emperor's letters, the monks of Gembloux
were not left in peaceful possession. The count of Namur, St.
Guibert's brother-in-law, claimed it on behalf of his wife and seized
the revenues of the abbey so St. Guibert was obliged for a time to
return to Gembloux to assert his own claims and to protect the
community he had founded. At the same time he did missionary work, and
succeeded in converting a number of pagans, Hungarian and Slav
settlers who had remained in the country after the invasion of 954.
St. Guibert's last years, which he spent at Gorze, were troubled by a
long and painful illness. He died on May 23, 962, in his 70th year,
and his tomb was afterwards celebrated for the miracles wrought there.

There is a life written in some detail by the chronicler Sigebert of
Gembloux, who lived a century later. It is printed in the Acta
Sanctorum, May, vol. v, and elsewhere. A good deal of attention has
been paid by various writers to the foundation of Gembloux. See
especially U. Berlière, Monasticon Beige, vol. i, pp. 15-26, and also
the Revue Benedictine, vol. iv (1887), pp. 303-307.

Saint Quote:
Remember, that the devil has only one door by which to enter the soul:
the will. There are secret or hidden doors. Temptations,
discouragement, and unrest are the wares offered by the enemy.
Remember this: if the devil makes noise, it is a sign that he is still
outside and not yet within. That which must terrify us is his peace
and concord within the human soul
-- Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

Bible Quote:
Whoever humbles himself as this little child,
he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 18:4)

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Daily Thoughts and Prayers for Our Beloved Dead

"Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because
the hand of the Lord hath touched me" Job. 19-21.

TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY

Let us accept without a murmur all that God sends us. Every morning
let us offer God in behalf of the Souls in Purgatory all our prayers
and good works and we shall help them immeasurably.

Prayer:  Our Father, Three Hail Marys, Gloria, De Profundis.

De Profundis

   Out of the depths, I have cried to Thee,
O Lord, Lord, hear my voice.
   Let Thine ears be attentive to the
voice of my supplication.
   If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark my iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand it?
   For with Thee there is merciful
forgiveness: and by reason of Thy
law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.
My soul hath relied on His word;
my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
   From the morning watch even until
night; let Israel hope in the Lord.
Because with the Lord there is mercy;
And with Him plenteous redemption.
   And He shall redeem Israel from
all its iniquities.
   Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon them:
   May they rest in peace. Amen.

Most merciful Jesus, by the merits of Thy Holy Childhood, deliver from
the pains of Purgatory all the Holy Souls, particularly the soul
longest in paying the debt exacted for his imperfections on earth.
Take him today to Paradise that he may join the Heavenly Choir in
praising Thee and will intercede for me in the hour of need.